Autopsy showed New Bedford baby was ravaged

Saturday

A New Bedford man charged with killing his girlfriend's 18-month-old daughter was held without bail Friday after prosecutors revealed the nature of the injuries that contributed to the child's death.

NEW BEDFORD — A city man charged with killing his girlfriend's 18-month-old daughter was held without bail Friday after prosecutors revealed the nature of the injuries that contributed to the child's death.

Manuel Moniz, 23, of 21 Peckham St. looked on from the New Bedford District Court dock as Assistant District Attorney Katie Rayburn catalogued the bruising and internal injuries that Priscilla Walker sustained before dying on March 14.

The autopsy from the state medical examiner revealed the young girl had a large amount of bruising on her temple, around her abdomen and on her sides and legs.

The child also suffered severe internal injuries, including numerous contusions to her skull, massive bleeding in her brain, a perforated liver and spleen and torn intestines, Rayburn said.

According to court records, Dr. Peter Cummings performed the autopsy and determined that each injury was life-threatening by itself if left untreated. Some of the injuries allegedly occurred about two days before the child died.

On Thursday, Cummings ruled the cause of death was homicide, determining that the victim died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head or abdomen, court records said.

The child's mother, Alexandra McCarthy-Rodriguez, 22, cried in the courtroom as Rayburn described the injuries. Moniz's relatives were also emotional, leading court officers and state and local police to provide extra security.

Outside the courthouse, McCarthy-Rodriguez told reporters she was angry and shocked with allegations that Moniz, her live-in boyfriend, hurt her daughter by throwing a toy at her head and stepping on her stomach while the mother was away.

"I didn't think he would do that at all," McCarthy-Rodriguez said, adding she had never seen Moniz show a violent streak during their relationship.

"He would say she was like a daughter to him. ... I was very surprised. He's a bad person for doing this."

The father of the child — Gregory Walker — stood up in court after the ruling and yelled to Moniz as he was led away by court officers: "Yo, Manny. You better stay in PC (protective custody)."

Walker later said his statement was intended as a warning.

"It was instant rage. I really didn't care. I told the court officers I was going to say something," said Walker, who set up a MySpace page — with a screen name of "Don't let this happen to you" — in his daughter's memory.

"She was a beautiful, well-behaved child," Walker said. "She cried, just like every child cries."

Detectives began investigating the child's death almost immediately after police and paramedics responded to a 911 call around 6:30 p.m. on March 14 regarding a baby who was vomiting and having difficulty breathing at 97 Dartmouth St.

The child did not have a pulse when emergency responders arrived. She was rushed by ambulance to St. Luke's Hospital and was pronounced dead by an emergency room doctor at 7:20 p.m.

Commenting on the case, New Bedford police spokesman Lt. Jeffrey P. Silva noted the incident occurred less than a month before a national awareness campaign to highlight child abuse.

"The death of any child is always grievous, but the fact that this occurred as we approach National Child Abuse Prevention Month makes the details of this case particularly poignant," Silva said.

Because of the bruising, the child's death was deemed suspicious, and detectives interviewed Moniz while the autopsy results were pending.

On Friday, Rayburn said Moniz made a series of conflicting statements to police about how the injuries occurred.

At first, he reportedly told detectives he did not know how the girl sustained her injuries. He later admitted he might have dropped the girl on her head two days before her death, Rayburn said.

When New Bedford and state police detectives questioned Moniz on Thursday, he told investigators he had been angry with his girlfriend and that the two of them argued about a phone message she had received from another man.

Moniz told police that when the girl's mother left their apartment, he picked up a heavy toy and threw it at the wall but hit the child instead, causing her to fall over, Rayburn said.

Moniz also told detectives he had stepped on the girl the same day she died, court records said.

Medical examiners said the injuries suffered by the child, including the tearing of the organs and the internal bleeding, were consistent with being stepped on, Rayburn said.

According to court records, Moniz told police he withheld the information about the girl's injuries from her mother, even though he supposedly knew the injuries could be life-threatening, because he feared the girl's mother would leave him.

Rayburn said Moniz persuaded McCarthy-Rodriguez not to seek medical attention for the child because he feared doctors would refer the matter to the state Department of Children and Families for investigation.

However, defense lawyer Elliot R. Levine said Friday that Moniz loved the child, as well as his girlfriend's two other young children in the apartment.

Levine said that when Moniz saw the child in distress, he tried to perform CPR, and that might account for some of the bruising the child had in her abdomen area. Levine also said Moniz encouraged the mother to call 911.

Christine Moniz, the defendant's sister, told The Standard-Times she and her family were saddened by the young girl's death. She also described her brother as a "happy, fun-loving kid" who would do anything for his girlfriend and her children.

"I would leave my brother with my daughter in a heartbeat," she said. "He's watched my daughter plenty of times and his nephews and nieces. And he was always there for Alex in tough times."

She also said her brother and his girlfriend dated for 15 months, but she described their relationship as volatile.

"They argued so much. They pushed each other's buttons," she said. "We told them to stay away from each other. But love makes you do things. Nobody's perfect."

Christine Moniz said she and her family did not know many of the allegations against her brother because they had not been informed by investigators.

She also said her brother was scheduled to undergo a lie-detector test Thursday, which is when he was questioned by local and state police.

Polygraph tests are not admissible in court, but they are used by detectives who interview criminal suspects and other persons of interest.

Gregg Miliote, spokesman for the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, declined to comment on whether investigators had put Moniz through a polygraph test.

Police records show Moniz was arrested last August following an argument with McCarthy-Rodriguez, who alleged that he punched her arm, grabbed her wrist and took her cell phone so she could not call police.

Moniz denied punching her, but admitted grabbing her arm because she allegedly hit him in the face with a purse. The case was later dismissed at the request of McCarthy-Rodriguez, court records said.

Moniz also had two prior cases for larceny and robbery that were later dismissed, court records said.

Moniz will be incarcerated until his next court appearance April 14. Eliot filed a motion Friday to receive $500 for a psychologist to determine Moniz's state of mind.

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